Packing tray



Patented Feb. ,12, 1935 UNITED STATES l 1,990,675 PACKING TRAY Lawrence P. Sinz and Cecil Los Angeles, Calif.

R. Barbee,

ApplicationNovember 23, 1932, Serial No. 644,024 l 1 Claim, (o1. 217-19) 'I'his invention relates to an improved packing tray, and has Vfor one of its principal objects the provision of a packing tray which in a single unit will becapable of doing double duty, and'which may be of some cheap material such as molded paper pulp or the like while at the same time affording a highly satisfactory cushioning and packing article. Y

One of the important objects of this invention is t provide a combination cushioning and packing tray which can be used particularly for the packing of bottles or other similar fragile articles, and which, being previously prepared in proper shapes to correspond with the sizes and din-lenn sions of the lbottles and their containers, can be easily Vfitted into thecontainenand which will eifectually cushion the bottles orother articles for handling, shipping and transportation purposes. i

Another important object of the invention re,

' sides in the provision of a tray composed of molded wood pulp or other resilient material whichV shall have integral extensions in the forms of ridges which ridges shall partially surround and effectively grip the articles to be packed while at the same time being slightly deformed by the articles so as to alford a satisfactory tight fit, andv also effectively preventing contact with adjacent articles, preventing breakage.

Another and still further important'object of the invention resides in the provision of a packing tray which can be used with or without surrounding containers and either singly or in combinay tion with similar trays to providea` satisfactory package for practically any kind, size or shape of fragile article.

Other and further important objects of the invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the accompanying drawing and following specication. Y

The invention, in a preferred form, is illustrated in the drawing and is hereinafter more fully described.

.,rounding container, and illustrating other uses thereof,

-when the bottles or other articles Figure 4 shows a modified form of the tray, showing the same as adapted for use with a. cov,-A ering of material which need not be stiff as the ordinary container.

Figure 5 shows vention.

As shown in the drawing:

The reference numeral indicates generally the body portion of the improved packing tray of this invention, the same comprising a rec- 10' tangularv or similarly shaped sheet; of molded woodpulp, cardboard, or someV other-somewhat resilientV material, and which has mounted thereon or formed integral therewith ia vpluralityoi" ridge-like elements 12, preferably formed in V;- v

shape as indicated and which are also vcomposed of the same material as that of the body 10. As best illustrated in Figures 1 andv 2, the tray is adapted to beused in connection with a fairly Vstiff and solid container 14 of any suitable'size 20 for containing a desired number of bottlesl 16 as, for example, one dozen as shown. Obviously,V` the bottles may be of any size or shape, and furthermore, the tray may be used with other articles, particularly fragile articles which require careful packing and handling.

The tray may be laid at in the container or positioned endwise therein, depending upon theV size and shape of the container, and the nature of the articles to be packed, and for purposes of handling and convenience, the ends of the tray are cut away as shown at 18 in Figure 1 to provide a hand-hold and also to allow the escape of air when the tray is laid flat into a container which is of substantially the same size, as in the example shown in Figure 1.

The ridge elements 12 are so shaped and of a material and with suilcient thickness so that they may be slightly deformed as shown in Figure 2 therein and in the container, thereby providing a close t, and avoiding rattling and consequent breakage. It will be noted that the apices 20 of the ridges 12 project slightly beyond the adjacent contacting points of the largest diameters of the bottles 16, thereby providing an adequate protection.

The tray may be used without a container as in the embodiment shown in Figure 3 and in such a case, the projectingend 22 of the element 10 50 may be. bent upwardly or downwardly, or may be completely cut off as shown in the right-hand side of Figure 3, the tray then forming a supporting cradle for the articles to be packed, which may then simply be wrapped in paperor the like,

another modication of the in- '5" are placed 40 f whereby a suitable package is provided for a smaller number of bottles or similar articles which package insures against breakage and provides an ease in carrying.

A modification of this feature is shown in Figure 4 whereby half sections 24 of the ridge elements 12 are provided at the ends of the base portion 10, these allowing of the suitable gripping of one side of a bottle 16 and providing an end cushioning effect which in this instance is particularly valuable when the bottles are wrapped in material more flexible than the ordinary wooden or cardboard container, such as heavy paper or the like 26.

Here again a very satisfactory package results for practically any number of bottles up to the limit which can be contained in a tray, and obviously, the tray may be separated into portions for carrying smaller numbers of bottles or the like. Y

A still further modification is illustrated in Figure 5 wherein ridge elements 28 are staggered with relation to each other, so that bottles on the top of the tray will not be in alignment with those under the tray, and additionally, a half extension 30 of one of the ridge elements may be provided at the end for further protection of the end bottle.

After illling a tray, both top and bottom, two additional trays may be placed one on top and another on bottom of articles, thereby completely enclosing articles packed along their full length, and leaving only both ends of the articles exposed.

In some cases, due tothe shape and size of the article to be packed, the ridges may be molded or pre-formed somewhat in the shape shown in Figure 2 so as to avoid the necessity of pushing the articles down into the V sections which is particularly desirable in the event of very fragile items.

This method of construction, with the ridges or extensions both on top and bottom of the common separator or tray body, enables packing of two bottles or other articles one above the other with the use of only one tray, and thereby enabling the said tray to perform a double duty.

It will be evident that herein is provided a simple, speedy and economical manner and means for packing any multiple of items one above the other with but one tray in a container for handling or other transportation purposes which, while positively insuring the safety of the articles packed, also provides a handy and compact package for two or more articles up to any reasonable amount and which, if desired, may be usedover again for quite a number of times without losing its efficiency, or, if only used once, can be readily discarded on account of the original low cost.

We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction varied throughout the device herein described, in a wide range without departing from the principles of the invention, and we, therefore, do not purpose limiting 'the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

A double duty packing tray, comprising a molded flat rectangular body, and transverse ridge-like partitions integral with the body on both faces thereof in opposed relationship, both the body and partitions formed or" a substantially thick and fairly resilient material such as paper pulp, the ridge-like partitionsbeing of V-shape and hollow adapted to be deformed upon insertion of articles in the tray, and half portions of the ridge elements at the ends of the tray, the tray adapted for the containing and packaging of fragile articles, with a surrounding con- Y tainer of relatively thin but stiff material, and of a shape and size to correspond with the dimensions of the tray and the packaged articles.

LAWRENCE P. SINZ. CECIL R. BARBEE. 

